Clicking Noise from engine
 

Hi,

I have a 1987 300E and lately (last I month) I have started to notice a clicking noise from the engine, I coincides with the engine speed, if I step on the gas the noise gets faster. Its not a severe noise and I mostly here it in the garage where the noise echos back to me. I do use premium gas at all times and about 3 months ago ran some Techron cleaner in there as well. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Well it has something to do with moving parts...It could be one of the pulleys, belt tensioner, fan clutch, poly-v belt...your best bet is to open the hood, and pin point the sound exactly.

you might have a worn camshaft or rocker arms.

I just had that work done on my 76 450sl but my car was know for camshafts wearing out.
If it is a camshaft you can hear which side it's from by opening the hood and listening carefully.
then again, it could be any of the minor things mentioned by the previous post.

how many miles on your car?

Thanks for the replies. The car has approx. 160,000 miles.

87 300e
 

this could be loose rocker assembly bolt[s] that have pulled the aluminum threads.this can be fixed.take off valve cover and have a look.remember with aluminum threads it's not a case of if the threads will break BUT WHEN! david poole european performance dallas tx.

Also it is possibly a worn tensioner shock. You can eliminate this by holding the top of the shock down with a long screw driver while the car idles.

I am a mechanical novice could someone tell me or show me a pic of where the tensioner shock is located.

Worn Bearing
 

Your ticking noise could be from the valve train area, but I'll bet your fan clutch bearing is going south. Take out your fan shroud, grab the fan, clutch and pulley assembly and pull upwards. Now watch the bottom fan blade distance from it and the harmonic damper. If that bottom blade deflects more than 3/16" to a 1/4", remove the belt and spin the whole thing. If its very noisy and its run out is excessive, change the bearing bracket assembly. Also order a new belt, tensioner, rod adjuster, and damper. Ill also quarentee you that the belt tensioner is shot too.

To locate noise, I use an old timers trick, a broom stick. Noise travels better in dense material so if you touch the wood to lets say the water pump and you hear ... while pressing the other end of the broom stick against your head. I know this sounds strange but it works.
Try listening to the back end of the motor. There is a flex plate (automatic trany. I do not know if manual has this) and if one or more of the six mounting bolts have loosened, they will hit the bell housing and make a 'tic-tic' that is = to the RPM.
Valve train noise is 1/2 RPM.
So get a broom handle, poke around and avoid the moving parts!
Good luck and post the results.